Back online

I had no internet from Wednesday afternoon through to Friday so have not been able to blog. I really hate it when I can't connect, surprising how quickly I have come to rely on the net.
Anyway I didn't waste time, I managed to do some creating.
The Art Is...You  group is having an Egg Swap organised by Betti Zucker.

I created this one with a plastic egg, the type that you get a toy in. It was a garish pink so I covered it in paper and then painted with Paper Artsy paint in Vintage Gold, I then added the wings of a butterfly that was hanging in my art room; added a flower and then some Distressed stickles and a flower to finish.

 This is a smaller egg, the bird was cut out of a paper napkin, then sequins were added.

 This one again was created by using a rose from a napkin.

and this one is covered with a green and gold paper, some blink added and then a pair of earrings on front and back. My photography is not up to much, they actually look better in real life.

I went shopping too Bluewater with Stuart last night, well not shopping exactly had to go and exchange some faulty goods - a jumper, some wellies and a purse.
I had to ask for some more of this paper

it is a tissue paper with script on it as you can see, it is what they use to wrap purchased goods in in the All Saints store - my Stuart was laughing, and said to the bloke "You don't know how happy some paper has made her" Oh well, not bothered cos it was my gain :-)

I have started to gather my supplies for Art Is... early I know but I do have lots going on before then so thought I should organise myself.
Here are some of the delightful goodies for the Ruth Rae class I will be taking...

Finally, 2 more of my blog2print books came this week. I just LOVE looking through them and reminding myself of what I have done in the past.
It's funny because I used to get lots of comments left on my blog, this has diminished but I still keep blogging because the books are an incentive now... I love the fact that my children will have a record of what I have been up to in the future.
That's all for now, Till next time - take care xxx

HAPPY DAY!!!

for me today, got e mail confirmation that I SHALL be attending a class organised by Leandra and Lin with the wonderful TIM HOLTZ in February... HAPPY DAYS!!! I know that a lot of people thought it was expensive (via posts on FB) BUT I have dreamed about doing a class with Tim for so long and here it is a chance to do it here in the U.K. - Priceless in my opinion!

To CELEBRATE and to reflect my sunny mood I thought I would share these photos taken in France as we drove down to Spain this summer. Feel free to use them in your art if you wish, and if you do I would love to see what you create with them.






I have been feeling flat after coming home from Spain and have things I would love to share so I will take time out this week to do just that... watch this space.

Dawn xxxx

Yikes....

can't believe that I have blogged in AGES got to hold my hands up and confess that the World Cup is the reason. I have an obsession with football, seriously I do, to the extent that my 2 boys were both born as a result of my over exuberance during football tournaments when England were playing. China, well she came along early as a result of my excitement when Linford Christy winning gold at Barcelona Olympics.... so there you have it.
Even though England crashed out deplorably I still will watch it to the end just because it is football. Hoping now that Spain can do it, watch most of those players every week on La Liga so makes sense and hey my second home is in Spain too.

So apart from football what else have I been up to, in truth, not much.
I did go to the Craft Barn extravaganza and thought it was really good. Met the delightful Suzie Weinberg, watched Linda from Paper Artsy and Lin Brown from LB Crafts. Also Isabella Norris flew in from Canada - that is dedication for you!




The Craft Barn, Lingfield, Surrey


Leandra Franiche, Paper Artsy




Isabella Norris




Lin Brown of LB Crafts
and last but not least


Suzie Weinberg

and finally for this post, I did manage to create one piece in between the football....

The poem reads
Her eyes are like the evening air,
Her voice is like a rose,
Her lips are like a lovely song,
that ripples as it flows.
And she herself is sweeter than
the sweetest thing she knows.
A slender haunting, twilight form
of wonder and surprise,
She seemed a fairy or a child,
Till, deep within her eyes,
I saw the homeward-leading star
of womanhood arise.
Henry Van Dyke 1852-1933
Lost in the photo is the silver shimmer of her dress and wings, I enjoyed creating this fairy.

So once again, Thank you for dropping by, won't leave it so long now, PROMISE

LB CRAFTS / PAPER ARTSY Weekend

Gotta tell you all about my weekend... it was the BEST!!! WEEKEND EVER!!!!
Gabby and I booked up in October last year to go and do a workshop with Linda (of LB CRAFTS) and Leandra (of Paper Artsy) and this weekend the time arrived for us to go.
Oh joy and excitement, I was like a kid on Christmas morning.
I tore myself away from home (lol) and headed down the road with Gabby, didn't get far, had to return as I had left my glasses... how would I craft without them!
Anyway we hit the road, no traffic on the M25 or M1, SHOCK!!! we arrived in Olney just before 2 p.m.
What a quaint place Olney is, a lovely little village round a market square. Parked up and headed for LB Crafts. Imagine a kid in a candy store, that was me in this delightful shop full of the most wonderful goodies. What was a girl to do? Spend money that is what so I did!
We pottered around in the shop, Gabby and I and then went and had some lunch in a small brassierie in the courtyard. Fatal really as it was too close to the shop so naturally we went back in and spent some more pennies...
A little walk around the square looking in the delightful gift shops and then we headed off to our hotel.
Friday evening was a quiet affair, watching more people arrive, sharing a drink with Sally and Hazel and just chatting - a really pleasant evening.
Oh, I never said who Sally and Hazel were.
Well Sally had travelled from Toulouse in France for the event so she definitely got the prize for the person who had travelled the furthest! We hit it of so well, what an absolute star she was - we did a lot of the projects together, and made each other laugh - if you drop by to read this blog Sally - it was a pleasure to meet you.
The picture below is of myself, Gabby and Sally.

Hazel travelled from Graystoke in Cumbria, and she was another lovely lady - she tended to be working on different tables but she was fab company when we did hook up.

Had an early night as had to set the clock for an early start Saturday morning.
The shop was open before class, resisted for a time then bought a few more little bits and bobs *shush* don't tell anyone lol.
Then it was time for the introductory talk, introduced to Linda and Leandra and the other girls who would be helping, gotta give a BIG HAND to Karen, Jo and Lynne - absolutely stars all weekend, so willing to help...
Then I peed my pants or should that be Pirates of Penzance? no matter I thought I had died and gone to heaven when we were shown what we were going to make... wait till you see (but that is later in the post - so bear with me!)
We started off making crowns which we embellished with metal work, the crowns were our name tags.... wonderful idea!
Then we had to decorate a chipboard/papier mache candle with crackle paint, forget the brand name.. craco I think? anyway it crackled like you can't believe. Stamped on some acetate with Paper Artsy Castle stamps (photos to follow. Decorated a cd with alcohol inks, and made some feet for it to make a candle stand (again photos to follow).
And then we started on prepping the main project... are you dying to see what the main project was? I know you are, so without further ado I will show you, are you ready for this?..........


Can you believe it? now do you understand why I peed my pants (well nearly!) This was a plain cabinet which we painted, and glimmer misted, we made backgrounds out of paper and metal, decorated the front door with metal... what fun, what a delight to see it coming together, oh my gosh it was a delight.
And that wasn't the end of it. Oh know we made little beeswax collages, and did image transfers, oh so much - but the cabinet is not finished yet, I havet to decide what is going in to the cubby holes and assemble them, then I will share the end result with you... but don't you just LOVE IT!

We were so well looked after during the weekend, the meals at lunchtime were superb. There were plenty of coffee breaks and times to shop through out the day.
It was wonderful to meet so many lovely ladies, all there with one common purpose to have a great time.
My phone on my camera was not co-operating this weekend, kept going into video mode so I gave up on it for a time until I could figure it out, more important craftin to do... but I did manage to take this photo of Leandra and Wendy.
Wendy, who is Wendy?
Well Wendy received my altered letter rack as she was Girl of the Month on UK Art Swaps Yahoo group and she was at the weekend. It was fabulous to meet her and to hear that she really liked the piece I sent her (Thanks Wendy xxx)


I will now show you the next project we worked on during the weekend, prepare yourself for more eye candy as I present a Platter fit for a Queen...


We all used exactly the same wooden bowl as a base, painted it different colors (of our choice) and added the tiles and embossed some metal.. the results were amazing, the collage shows the effect using different paints and embossing plates



So the weekend was jam packed. There were 60 ladies attending and it was FUN! FUN! FUN!
Linda and Leandra have to do it all again next weekend and I am sure the ladies who will be attending will enjoy it as much as I did.. if you made it to the end of the post Thank you for caring enough to read this post :-)
I have condensed it (really I have, lol) but I just had to share with you my experience. My 1st workshop, but after the time I had, not my last x

More Pictures from LB Craft weekend

Here are some more pictures from the weekend...
Name badge made with metal tape

close up of crackle on candle
view of candle
Paper Artsy images stamped on to acetate. All the parts of the stamp can be used to create a bigger castle. In this case the vertical walls were added to the turrets. The metal tape wall is to be embossed and then this will wrap around candle form.

cd with alcohol inks to color; round feet put underneath to make a stand


******************************************************************************

Working on bowls, in picture l-r Lindsays mum, Lindsay, Wendy, Me


Sally, Linda (LB Crafts) and Gabby making bowls


This is the 2nd post about the weekend.... the other shows the other items made. But before I go here are some of the cabinets made by the tutors. The pink one is a work in progress (made by one of the girls on the weekend)

Do you want to swap...

...this is the question I was asked over on Facebook by Dawn Marie - I agreed and we said we would do it for about mid April.
Well I have had this frame hanging in my art room for well over a year and today it just said to me.... "use me, make something of me" so I picked it up and created this Birds Nest piece.

The frame has a mesh body. I stuck the music sheet behind it, after all what is a bird without music. I decorated the eggs with Tim Holtz acrylic dabber paint, color Juniper and stamped with a Paper Artsy mini stamp, using Tea Dye Distress Ink.
The eggs and the frame were purchased from Paper Whimsy and have been as I said a part of my stash for so long... you know how it is, you see it, you buy it and then you can't use it cos it is "good stuff". I have decided now is the time to use my "good stuff"
All the wonderful encouragement I have had recently has really got me thinking "hey I am not that bad, I can make art..." what a fabulous feeling and it is all THANKS to wonderful friends I have made here in blogland and on various art groups.
Anyway back to the Birds Nest... the rusted bells were given to me by my friend Lorraine... Thanks Lorraine - I used them!
The rusty bird was bought from Retro Cafe Art and the lace was from some I bought in Spain.
The words were made using the typewriter font to use with the cuttlebug
Now all I have to do is put together some bits and pieces and send it of to her...

Thanks for dropping by, hugs...

Wooden ATC block - Garden

Thanks for dropping by, thought I would share the second ATC Block I have made. Loved the words which are from a poem called "The Sensitive Plant Part 1" by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The poem in it's entirety is absolutely beautiful, as is part 2.
I used the delightful Paper Whimsy some Paper Artsy stamps. Some garden bits and bobs from a local craft shop that I have had for ages. Glimmer mists, although you can't see them in the picture.
I feel happy today after my misgivings of yesterday - will be back on later to post some more, in the meantime Thanks again...